Faith in Myself
by Link2
Summary: Dark Angel & Buffy..nuff said!
1. Default Chapter

Faith in Myself

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: buffy, dark angel and any characters associated to/with this story **do not** belong to me. 

Prologue: think season 3. buffy and faith are cool.

"Okay it's Friday night and I am beyond bored."

Buffy babbles as she and Faith enter the library finding Giles and Willow buried in books. She tosses "Mr. Pointy" on the library's only table.

"Giles, can't we like, make the vampires come? I mean, Mr. Pointy and I are really getting restless. There must be some really big evil coming. Someone's up to something; as my watcher you should be overseeing these things. Watching-to make sure there's still something out there for me to kill."

Faith giggles at her counterpart's jokes.

"Calm down B. We should take this night to just chill at the bronze."

Faith declares with a wiggle. Having her head buried in a book, Willow excitedly emerges:

"We could do a few spells. Something interesting, just for fun."

Willow exclaims in her innocent toned squeak.

"I'm getting a lot better you know."

Willow continues, but Giles firmly interrupts. Within the past year or so he's gotten used to Buffy and her friends and has solemnly become a father figure to them all; sometimes a little more.

"Be careful Willow. Magic is not the place to lay one's interests."

Everyone looks at him. He begins to stutter.

"At least not all of them."

Buffy plops down in a chair; restless with unease, an unease to take action. She's never been this way before well, before Faith that is. Any other time she'd lock herself up in conversation with Angel in the graveyard, but tonight for some reason she felt like getting high off of the dust of vampire.

"Where's Xander and cordelia? Wait! Answered my own question."

It is now that Faith realizes just how considerably "off" Buffy really is. Granted-on the battlefield she's a powerhouse, but come deep thought-she's as helpless as the world they protect. Maybe a spell or two wouldn't kill them. At least it was something to do.

"Okay I'm in for the hocus pocus, but no transformations or make up…or pizza."

Willow didn't know what to make of Faith's rsvp, only that she was trying.

"What about you Buffy? Wouldn't be the same with out you."

Buffy agrees. As they exit the library, willow more enthusiastic than ever, Giles screams to them:

"You girls be careful…"

The door slams.

"…This may prove to be too much for even you Buffy."

¨

Buffy and Willow toss cheetos at one another as Faith watches in awe. She's never done a sleepover before which explains why she's the only of the three dressed in her black leather street clothes. She stands slowly to her feet, glides to a nearby window and peers through the blinds. Faith was never the type to "slow her roll." Trouble is tattooed permanently on her soul. Suddenly she feels a small speckle bounce violently off her back. She ignores it. She peers to the left out the window and almost notices a shadow. As she turns she is drenched in cheeto cheese snacks.

"You still with us or is your imaginary friend out there calling?" Buffy teases.

A feeling of strong camaraderie comes over Faith and she is suddenly overcome with the feeling to wrestle with her…friend. She fights it:

"The bronze is starting to look really good about now."

Willow hops up at the thought and reaches under her bed. From under it she pulls the key to tonight's adventure; a large, black book with rusted lightly colored rhinestones engraved on it.

"Flea market bargain, eh? Willow I'm very disappointed." Buffy jokes.

She ignores her friend's mindless dribble and begins flipping the pages of the oversized book:

"How about a time spell? It's said to show your mind, body, and soul when you're needed most. "

Faith looks concerned, almost frightened at the thought. She begins to wonder where this spell could take her; where she could end up. Her most important time may be in death. How could anything of importance to herself, being the slayer, not first and for most involve Buffy Summers? Regardless, she had always been spirited and at times, mildly headstrong. She now had a thirst; a thirst to know if she could ever come out of the shadow she was now thrust into. The shadow of one blonde bombshell with a hoard of loved ones to back her in any and all turmoil. Faith was now determined to know her destiny; of why she was declared second slayer and not the first. 

"Let's try that." Faith insists.

Willow gazes at Buffy in disbelief. Why would Faith suddenly want to be close and open? She hesitates at first and doesn't plan on performing the spell all the way through, but something happens when she begins to speak the words. As if her tongue is no longer hers they come out with the greatest of ease (not to mention perfect pronunciation). There is no strong wind. No bolt of lightning and no blackout; only a missing person. A person that was never really welcome in Sunnydale to begin with. 

¨

This is the highest up she's ever been. She takes a deep breath and eases toward the edge. She looks over. _Whoa!_ It is now that Faith realizes she is obviously no longer in Sunnydale._Sunnydale is Buffy's and now I've got something that can be mine._ She smiles at her new glory. She is now free of her shadowy prison deep beneath the blonde hair of Buffy Summers. Her face has never been so bright or bruised! As Faith turns around she is fisted in the jaw. The momentum sends her rolling to the edge of her new surface for this is the hardest she's ever been hit. Her body rolls violently, but she quickly takes control and is able to grab the edge of the building. She now dangles over 150 feet from the ground and a dark figure stands above her. At first glance it appears to be an angel, but she knows it otherwise. All Faith can do now is look into the dark face of her attacker. Her heart beats faster with every passing second and her stomach begins to cramp.

"Who sent you?" her attacker commands.

Faith is speechless. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Her heart pounds with fear. Her mouth widens from disbelief. Faith loves this feeling. She knows it'll only take a few seconds to subdue this lil' girl.

"You pack a wallop Miss Thang…"

She grabs her attacker's leg using it as a pole to regain her balance on the tower's top while toppling her opponent.

"…For the helpless off guard type, but let's see how you do when I'm on my feet."

Faith teases as she takes her fighting stance. _Who is this girl? _Max has no memory of her thus, she couldn't be an X-5. She springs to her feet with grace and poise, but before she knows it she is overcome with a powerhouse of strengthened punches. Max takes three before she returns with one of her own sending Faith crashing through the tower's glass roof.

"I asked you a question. Who sent you?"

Max repeats firmly. Faith is back to her feet almost as if she never hit the ground. She takes her stance again, yet this time she has studied her opponent a bit more. A roundhouse kick sends her flying further down the tower. She hears her attacker's voice echo:

"You may be strong and fast, but I'm guessing at the rate you're going you won't live to the bottom of the needle. So do yourself and your boss a favor by telling me who sent you. I might be nice tonight and let you leave here walking."

Faith ignores her attacker's taunts. _I'm just a little careless from the hype._ But before she knows it there's a brunette with a striking resemblance to herself ailing above her. _Could the spell somehow have killed Buffy and sent another slayer in her place? _Faith stares up at the fighter. This may very well be the one she loses. _Not by a long shot._ She sweeps the girl and quickly pins her down. A grin comes across her face:

"You talk a lot of trash for a little girl. Now, either you can tell me what part of Sunnydale I'm in or I can snap your neck and call it a night. Kapeesh?"

Max looks at her awkwardly. _Could she be one of Lydecker's? He very well could have kept her from the rest of us._

_ _

"Sunnydale's about three states south. Good luck making it passed the border."

Faith stares in awe. As soon as she lets her guard down Max takes the upper hand and has her pinned against a nearby wall. Faith struggles. Max throws her eyebrows up:

"What're you doing up here?"

Before Faith can respond a light shines heavily through one of the needle's many windows. Max takes off, Faith behind her. They hear explosions as they descend the large skyscraper from the inside. Dust and rocks fall from above; some more plenty than the next. They continue down the stairs Max leading and Faith following. Until they finally reach an exit but it's sealed! Max realizes that the only way out is to go back up! She pushes Faith aside and heads back up the stairs before she reaches a window. She kicks it in. She turns to Faith:

"You coming?"

Faith hurries up the stairway and dives out the window into the harbor with a massive explosion following. The pressure from the water smacks her like an open hand. She immediately springs up for air. After a few coughs and a deep breath, she looks around for her attacker. _Did she survive?_ Faith looks up at the most horrid picture she has ever witnessed. Seattle's Space Needle in flames. A helicopter circles the flames possibly looking for survivors. Faith slowly merges back into the water and swims to the pier unseen.

__


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Note: There's no Buffy in this chapter and fairly enough in the next few (if I write anymore). The action descriptions suck I know, but bare with me. It's my first fic. 

Chapter 3

He had never meant to destroy this much of the city over one genetically enhanced teenager. Yet Lydecker knows if it weren't for the hardheaded trooper of his the space needle might still be standing. For all he knows Max could be dead, but deep down inside he knows he trained her well; he trained them all well. Standing in the rubble he searches for anything that could be of assistance. Only, at this point his searching becomes random thought. It had taken him years to find her. _And it's all over thanks to some stupid rookie?_ His eyes began to squint as his anger deepened. _I need a smoke._ He reaches in his upper left jacket pocket and feels nothing. _Damn._ Lydecker looks around him to notice a homeless vagabond covered with a cloak standing 10 feet behind him and leaning on a nearby building that was lucky enough to be salvaged the week before. The nicotine urge had gotten to him now. Decades of military experience were now going down the drain over an addiction he hadn't beaten since he was 19.

"Got a smoke?"

He asked the cloaked stranger. This particular vagabond was certainly neat. When is nose unconsciously searched for a strong odor it got: none?! By this time it was too late. Even decades of military experience cannot match the months it took to genetically enhance a child and teach it to use its super strength. Before he blacked out he was unimaginably pleased for a person whose life could have very well been in danger. _She's safe._

¨

Barred up old windows. Hummer. A few guns here and there. He tried to move, but the ropes prohibited even the slightest turning of hiswrists. Lydecker knew very well who had him and needless to say he wasn't very nervous at all. He waited a moment. Lydecker knew that she was well aware of when he'd awaken. So he sat patiently and in time she entered the room; same worn dark denim blue jeans and black biker jacket She walked like she could make love to you and kick your ass if you broke her heart. He smiled. She had the largest frown on her face, yet she always frowned. He had gathered that she wasn't too happy today and he planned to use that in order to worm his way into her head. She may be genetically enhanced, but she's still a teenager.

"Who is she Lydecker? Are there other X-5's besides us?"

Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups. Assuming Lydecker knew the girl Max had tangled with last week before the needle collapsed was as far from wrong as peanut butter and mayonnaise on a sesame seed bun. 

"Do you have a cigarette?"

His eyes were bloodshot. He could go into withdrawal any moment. It had only been 2 hours. She turned her back to him. The rage grew stronger. It slowly charged from her heart to her hands and became physical. She hit Lydecker. His chair rose nearly 6 feet from the ground and landed on its backside. _How could a human being do something like this? How could he take my family and use us to fight his stupid wars?_ She could kill him anytime, but that's not what she was after today. She wanted answers and was determined to get them. Outrageously she removes her jacket and tosses it across the warehouse. She storms over to Lydecker's chair fist in the air ready to send him to his death or so she made him believe.

"In the past week or so for some reason no one's been answering my questions. It's simple. I ask questions. You answer. You don't. You get hit. So, we're going to try this again.."

She lifts Lydecker's chair to its normal sitting position and walks around in front of it. She looks him directly in the eye:

"Now who is she?"

Lydecker smiles. He knows she can hit hard. He knows she'll continue to hit him, but he also knows she won't kill him. She's looking for answers; answers he doesn't have, but if it's important to Max it's important to him.

"I asked for a smoke."

Normally Max may have followed his request. After all, it is Lydecker and he isn't exactly a pathological liar. He's cooperated before. She raises her fist in rage once again. _He's playing with me._ Her knuckles are two inches from her face when suddenly she feels her hand stop. She tries to jerk forward to send Lydecker's chair flying further across the warehouse, but she can't; someone's holding her arm! Before she knows it she's flying further away from Lydecker airborne, and the sensation she feels against her back so suddenly is none other than the comfort of a warehouse wall!

Faith unties the ropes quickly. She knows it'll only be a few moments before her opponent is back on her feet and in her face.

"I'm gonna get you out of here."

Lydecker stares into her beady brown eyes. He hasn't much strength thus when he stands he is forced right back down to his feet. He is beginning to become unconscious. _This girl. She looks so familiar, but it couldn't be…_

Faith throws Lydecker's arm around her shoulder and they take off. Max is back on her feet. She squints. _It's her! _

Max taps Faith on her free shoulder.

"You know I wasn't through talking with him yet."

She decks Faith and sends her flying to the ground. Lydecker hits the pavement also. After being that close to her he is finally able to realize whom he's dealing with now. 

"Max NO!"

He screams to her. She pauses for a moment and looks back at Lydecker lying on the ground. She turns back around and Faith is in her face; pummeling it. Men hit Max all the time. Some of which have gone through extensive training for nothing, but learning how to hit. But she knows with each passing punch that she has never been hit this hard before. Faith twirls like a tornado with all her might carrying what she hopes will finally knock this _thing _down, but she is wrong. Just as she comes around Max is able to clearly catch her hand and swing with a punch of her own. But Faith is not that slow. She remembers her training with Buffy._This thing's style isn't all that different from Buffy's, which means…_

Faith blocks and goes for Max's sides. A few roundhouse kicks should do the trick. Max takes the first and catches the last:

"Why are you protecting him?"

Max asks sternly. Faith's back flip lands a solid foot directly under Max's chin sending her to Lydecker's side on the pavement. Faith notices a stray piece of wood and hurries to it. She breaks it over her knee creating a stake. She waits. After seeing all this, Lydecker is convinced. He grabs Max as she tries to get back up:

"Max don't. You're making a terrible mistake."

Max wiggles away from him angrily, but he grabs her again harder this time with his last remaining strength:

"Max…she's your…mo.th…e..r.."

It takes a moment before Max can make out what Lydecker was trying to say before he fell unconscious. Her heart began to race as she looked up at the brown haired fighter standing before her, stake in hand ready to conclude their battle. She squints slightly:

"My….mother?"


	4. Epilogue

Epilogue

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Note: I know this is short, but it's the end. There is no sequel. And just in case some people didn't get it; Willow used a spell that was supposed to send Faith to the "time and place" she was needed most. Since Max needed her mother that's where Faith went. Of course after her purpose was discovered, Faith was thrown back in Sunnydale. 

Epilogue

She stares at the wreckage. This was the only place that served as her "home away from home" to think things through. Now thanks to Lydecker and a super strong brunette whom he claimed was her mother she no longer had a place to relax. _What parents._ She suddenly feels the urge to scream out; to let it all go with one scream, but with her luck she'll discover genetically enhanced vocal cords and destroy all of Seattle. She laughs at the thought followed by a long sob. Wrapping her hands around herself she walks slowly to her motorcycle, throws on her glasses, swallows her hurt and is off into the night. _Maybe Logan can tell me more…_

_ _

Back in Sunnydale Faith lies alone. Her hotel room feels with the smell of sweat and leather. She decides to take a shower. The hot water hits the back of her neck like a fist. Yet in the passed few days everything has been hitting her like a fist. She laughs at the thought followed by a long sob. She puts her hands to her throat and squeezes as hard as she can. _Can't do it. _She screams. It's the most horrible sound she has ever heard. Slowly she lowers her hands from her throat and places them by her side letting the water continue to pummel her. She could think of nothing else but how "Buffy and friends" ruined her one chance at happiness. How she was just getting acquainted with living 20 years in the future when suddenly she was whisked back in the middle of the greatest fight of her life. The rage builds. She feels it in the back of her throat first. It comes out as another sound. _Won't scream._ She punches as hard as she can only this time her fist is covered with emotion. Guided with her anger, alienation, sadness, and utter unexplainable rage Faith levels the wall in front of her. And the only face she sees is that of a blonde bombshell. Faith opens her eyes. There is nothing left for her now, but hatred.

Thanks: I want to thank everyone who took the time to read my first fic. Especially my bestest bud and heart and just every damn thing in the world to me; Jen Jen (JD, Jennifer, Negra Belle, etc). Even if I don't show it as much as I should I do love you and through all the bull you're always there and I take this time to thank you **publicly.**


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